It was subdivided into 1000 cash (文, wén), 100 cents or fen (分, fēn), and 10 jiǎo (角, not given an English name, cf. The yuan was introduced in 1889 at par with the Mexican peso, a silver coin deriving from the Spanish dollar which circulated widely in South East Asia since the 17th century due to Spanish presence in the region, namely Philippines and Guam. Sīn is a word borrowed into Cantonese from the English cent. In Cantonese, widely spoken in Guangdong, Hong Kong and Macau, kuài, jiǎo, and fēn are called mān (蚊), hòuh (毫), and sīn (仙), respectively. In many parts of China, renminbi (人民幣/人民币 rénmínbì) are counted in kuai (simplified Chinese: 块 traditional Chinese: 塊 pinyin: kuài literally "piece") rather than "yuan". The Chinese pronunciation of yuan is one syllable. In People's Republic of China, using '¥' as well as RMB to denote the currency is common. Shop prices in People's Republic of China and Republic of China (Taiwan) are usually marked with 元 after the digits. The Hong Kong dollar, Macanese pataca and New Taiwan dollar are also written as yuán (元 圓/圆) in Chinese. The Korean won used to be written 圓 (won) some time after World War II and as 圜 from 1902 to 1910, but is now written as 원 (won) in Hangul exclusively, in both North and South Korea.
The Japanese yen was originally also written 圓, which was simplified to 円 (en) with the promulgation of the Tōyō kanji in 1946. The pronunciation of the two is the same - yuán. The character for yuan has two forms-a less formal, 元, and a more formal, 圓 or 圆. During the Qing Dynasty, the yuan was a round and silver coin. Yuan in Chinese literally means a "round object" or "round coin". When used in English in the context of the modern foreign exchange market, the Chinese yuan most commonly refers to the renminbi (CNY).
The symbol for the yuan (元) is also used to refer to the currency units of Japan and Korea, and is used to translate the currency unit dollar for example, the US dollar is called Měiyuán (美元), or American yuan, in Chinese. One yuán is divided into 10 jiǎo (角) or colloquially máo (毛 - "feather"). The distinction between yuan and renminbi is analogous to that between the pound and sterling the pound (yuan) is the unit of account while sterling (renminbi) is the actual currency.Ī yuán (元) is also known colloquially as a kuài (块 - "piece"). The yuan (sign: 元 code: CNY) is, in the Chinese language, the base unit of a number of modern Chinese currencies. Currency Information Chinese YuanĮxchange Rate Home > Currency Information > Yuan Renminbi